Meet Coin Master Designs Owner, Brett Lynch

Coin Master Designs was recently interviewed by VoyageATL magazine under local small businesses in the Atlanta, GA area. Here is the story of our challenge coin company.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brett Lynch.

Brett, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.

What started out as way to make supplemental income has turned out to be a satisfying business venture. I am a Navy Veteran with over 12 years of military service. During my time in service, I collected challenge coins from various military units and personnel that I served with. After a parachute accident, I was medically retired and proceeded to find a new career outside the military.

While going to film school, with my experience as a Navy SEAL, I found acting on television to be both beneficial and therapeutic. I got to work on some of the biggest television shows like Cold Case, Bones, Jericho, NCIS, and Criminal Minds. In addition to acting, I also lended my military expertise as an advisor to both NCIS and Criminal Minds. While working in film and television I always carried a challenge coin with me to hand out to individuals I had worked with and admired. Some of those people include Michael Bay, Tom Cruise, Josh Duhamel, Christopher McDonald, Esai Morales, and David Boreanaz.

In 2014, my wife and I had our first child and decided to move somewhere more cost-effective and conducive to raising a family. While still having the opportunity to work in film and television, we chose Atlanta, GA. Although my wife was able to find work pretty quickly, getting into the Georgia film scene was not so easy; to tell you the truth, I enjoyed being able to stay home and raise my son too. The next goal was to find something I could do to supplement income.

One day a talk with a veteran friend of mine and now business partner, Dotan Baer suggested I design challenge coins. I immediately fell in love with the idea and began reaching out to my military friends and family to see who was interested. A little over 2 years later we are growing and continue to make challenge coins for not only military personnel, but for non-profit companies, weddings, retirements, memorials, and sporting events/races.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Running a challenge coin business is a continual struggle and challenge. Like any retail business, you are continually trying to get your name out there and find new customers and clients. Challenge coins are a small niche and some companies out there have been making coins for many more years than us. Most of our business comes from custom orders, but to be competitive you need to have your own coins to sell as well. We are always thinking of new and unique coins to bring to the market that will help separate us from others in our industry. This means that I have to continually research big events and centennial type celebration ideas that are coming up in the future. Being the first to present an exclusive challenge coin to the market is the difference to be successful or not. Like all ideas, some work out great while others are flops; it’s a continuous gamble and as a small business we don’t have a lot of money to afford losses.

Coin Master Designs – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?

What makes our company work well is that I get to do what I love and that is be an artist and design. My business partner handles the financial side of the house; he is great to talk with and bounce ideas off of. I am proud of the fact that we are able to help companies and individuals create something that they can be proud to hand to someone. I like to say that our challenge coins are more effective than a business card and more meaningful than a greeting card.

There are a few qualities that set our company apart from other challenge coin companies. First, we offer 100% satisfaction of our product, after all what good is a memory if it doesn’t last. Secondly, we are the only company that offers 3d artwork to our customers, giving them a better idea of what their finished coin will actually look like. All other challenge coin companies give their clients 2d, one-dimensional artwork that visually fails to show what is raised and recessed on the coin. Although this process takes a little longer and more work, we have found that our artwork is pivotal to landing sales.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?

We have had some great successes with exclusive coins that we have released to the market. Our company has continually grown and established long-term clients since our company formed in 2015. What am most proud of is that we have been able to give back and pay forward our success, no matter how small Coin Master Designs has helped multiple non-profit companies raise money for their causes. Most non-profit companies that are starting up don’t have the money to spend on gifts for their donors. Challenge coins are a great tool to give away for donations and help spread the word beyond fundraising events.

Recently, we donated some challenge coins to non-profit company, Active Valor, a company who supports a cause that is close to my heart. Active Valor raises money and holds events to give new purpose to the lives of those who have served by redirecting their passion towards making a positive change in their local communities. They also support and hold events for Gold Star Families (Immediate relatives of U.S. Armed Forces members who died in battle or in support of certain military activities). I grew up in a military family and I am personally aware of the sacrifices these families make to our country.

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Published by Coin Master Designs

Coin Master Designs is a military service disabled veteran owned company. Having personally collected Challenge Coins throughout our time in the military and beyond, it became clear to us that these coins were more than cool pieces of metal. Each coin has a story to tell, a person who we had a bond with, or holds a value of gratitude that a hallmark card cannot. It is our intention, as a company, to carry on this tradition. In a world of technology and immediate gratification, a text, an emoji, an e-card just can't deliver the message to someone that they are truly appreciated for life. We believe that handing someone a custom coin that represents YOU in life or business is more powerful and bonding.
We at Coin Master Designs provide the industry with a fresh new take on the timeless classic collector’s piece, the Challenge Coin. Because a custom coin is made to last, we want the design and value of each coin to last for just as long. We work with our clients on the design and never move to the minting process until they are completely satisfied. Once sent to production, our master craftsmen take the time to customize and tailor each piece to ensure the final product accurately represents the concept in every detail. Each piece is presented to the market as a release and the majority of the designs are limited print, limited edition.
Join us at Coin Master Designs and let's go create a story that lasts a lifetime!
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